Cleveland Browns fans are already making excuses for the controversial signing of Kareem Hunt

The Cleveland Browns signed former Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt to a one-year deal that could be worth more than $1 million, per ESPN’s Ian Rapoport.

Kansas City released Hunt in November after a video emerged of the second-year star kicking and shoving a woman in a Cleveland hotel in February 2018.

The Browns faced scrutiny after giving Hunt a second chance in the NFL, but in an appearance on “Freddie and Fitzsimmons,” ESPN Cleveland radio’s Emmett Golden saidthat some Cleveland fans are already making excuses to justify the team’s decision.

The Cleveland Browns signed disgraced running back Kareem Hunt to a one-year, $1 million deal Monday, and some pundits are surprised at just how well the controversial move is going over with Browns fans.

ESPN Cleveland radio’s Emmett Golden spoke about fans’ reactions to the controversial decision to sign Hunt in an appearance on “Freddie and Fitzsimmons.”

“Here locally, I thought it would go over far worse than it did,” Golden said. “It seems like the Browns fans are so excited that they’re so close to being a really good football team that they’re willing to excuse this away or come up with something to make them feel better about it.”

Cleveland fans were quick to buy into the team’s defense of the acquisition, according to Golden.

“For three hours I heard fans call my show locally and say ‘listen, what he did is inexcusable, but’ and they found ways to excuse it,” Golden said. “Many people said ‘he deserves a second chance’ [or] ‘well, he’s sorry and John Dorsey said he really was sorry.'”

Hunt was famously released from the Kansas City Chiefs in November after the team reviewed a video of the second-year star kicking and shoving a woman in a Cleveland hotel in February 2018. While Hunt has been available for other franchises to acquire since December, none were willing to take on the backlash associated with making such a move.

That is until the Browns signed him Monday.

Cleveland general manager John Dorsey – who held the same position with the Chiefs when they drafted Hunt in 2017 – justified the decision to sign Hunt in a statement released on Twitter while continuing to maintain that the Browns “do not condone his actions.” According to Dorsey, Hunt “showed true remorse… and is committed to necessary professional treatment and a plan that has been clearly laid out.”

For his part, Hunt reiterated his remorse, calling his actions “wrong and inexcusable” through a Browns Twitter release. Still, whether he should have been granted a second chance mere months after getting axed from Kansas City has yet to be settled in the court of public opinion.